Study of UV-aging of thermoplastic polyurethane material

In the present work, the characteristics of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material exposed to artificial weathering environment for different durations were studied. The influence on (i) appearance and morphology, (ii) thermal properties and (iii) mechanical properties evolution of the material w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Materials science & engineering. A, Structural materials : properties, microstructure and processing Structural materials : properties, microstructure and processing, 2010-03, Vol.527 (7), p.1649-1654
Main Authors: Boubakri, A., Guermazi, N., Elleuch, K., Ayedi, H.F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ageing
Applied sciences
Exact sciences and technology
Mechanical properties
Physical properties
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Properties and testing
Technology of polymers
Thermal properties
Thermoplastic polyurethane
UV-aging
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Summary:In the present work, the characteristics of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material exposed to artificial weathering environment for different durations were studied. The influence on (i) appearance and morphology, (ii) thermal properties and (iii) mechanical properties evolution of the material were investigated during aging. For this purpose, ultraviolet (UV) chamber was used as accelerated aging technique. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations revealed changes in appearance and morphology of TPU material after UV-exposure. From differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis, it was mainly found that thermal properties, in terms of glass transition temperature ( T g), were affected. Changes in mechanical behaviour were equally discerned using both computer-controlled tensile testing and abrasive wear tester. The mechanical properties in bulk of the studied material displayed tow steps. The elastic modulus and the stress at 200% of strain initially decreased and then increased progressively revealing an increase in crosslink density. The tribological properties, in terms of wear resistance, were affected and this degradation became more important with UV-exposure. Furthermore, our experimental results displayed prominently that there was a competition between chain scission and crosslinking mechanisms.
ISSN:0921-5093
1873-4936
DOI:10.1016/j.msea.2010.01.014